War Poems | Poemist

Popular War Poems

Exposure

by Wilfred Owen

I

1 Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us ...
2 Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent ...
3 Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient ...
4 Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,
5 But nothing happens.

6 Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire.
7 Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles.

......

Boots

by Rudyard Kipling

INFANTRY COLUMNS

We're foot--slog--slog--slog--sloggin' over Africa --
Foot--foot--foot--foot--sloggin' over Africa --
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Seven--six--eleven--five--nine-an'-tw enty mile to-day --
Four--eleven--seventeen--thirty-two the day before --
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)

......

Strange Meeting

by Wilfred Owen

It seemed that out of the battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which Titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall;
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

......

In Spite Of War

by Angela Morgan

In spite of war, in spite of death,
In spite of all man's sufferings,
Something within me laughs and sings
And I must praise with all my breath.
In spite of war, in spite of hate
Lilacs are blooming at my gate,
Tulips are tripping down the path
In spite of war, in spite of wrath.
"Courage!" the morning-glory saith;
"Rejoice!" the daisy murmureth,

......

The River's Tale

by Rudyard Kipling

Prehistoric
Twenty bridges from Tower to Kew--
(Twenty bridges or twenty-two)--
Wanted to know what the River knew,
For they were young, and the Thames was old
And this is the tale that River told:--

"I walk my beat before London Town,
Five hours up and seven down.
Up I go till I end my run

......

Recent War Poems

Make Art not War

by Ghairo Daniels

MAKE ART NOT WAR (song)

{ CHORUS : Make art, not war
Open doors, go beyond
your little ponds
Let’s birth new mirth
For Earth, for Earth } x2

......

Die Boereoorlog

by Mario Odekerken

Hulle het gekom met uniform en vuur,
vreemde aksente
in 'n veld wat nie vir hulle was nie.

Die wind het stories gedra
van boere wat geveg het met geloof,
nie met mag nie.

Skaduwees van vroue
het oor die kampgronde geval,

......

Definition of War--A Soldier speaks

by Mario Odekerken

War is waking up
to the sound of nothing
and knowing something is wrong.

It is the weight of the rifle
before your first shot,
and the silence after your last.

War is orders you follow
even when they bury

......

Definition of War

by Mario Odekerken

War is the absence of listening,
the triumph of noise over reason.

It is metal spoken in fire,
soil rewritten in blood.

War is the breaking of names,
the scattering of stories
before they are told.

......

She died

by Dina Shehada

Everything about her is so special
You touch her hand and feel it's cold
As if it was a metal
Asking the lord
Please make her feel better
Those stunning eyes
Their gorgeous color
Look at them and feel her magic power
Let your hand run through her hair
You will know how it feels to touch the rainbow rain

......